SEK Obtains Trial Victory

SEK recently obtained a trial victory in the Eastern District of Louisiana for a vessel owner involved in an allision with a partially lit platform.  The liability and damages cases were tried separately.  Following a brief bench trial, the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled that the plaintiff, the platform owner, failed to prove its claimed economic loss of over $2.4 million.  Instead, the Eastern District of Louisiana awarded $227,468 in deferred production damages, which is what the defendant vessel owner acknowledged the plaintiff was entitled to.

At issue in the damages trial was the platform owner’s allegation that the December 2, 2021 allision required the well beneath the platform to be shut-in for 108 days.  During this time, a “gas cone” at the top of the well subsided, reducing the natural pressure necessary to produce hydrocarbons from the well. SEK presented expert testimony refuting this contention and ultimately defeating the claim. SEK attorney, Corey Parenton, represented the vessel owner on the damages phase of the trial.

This result followed a prior trial on liability in which both the platform owner and the vessel involved in the allision were assessed equal fault.  SEK attorneys, Tony Staines and Corey Parenton, represented the vessel owner in the liability phase of the trial.

A copy of the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on the bifurcated issues of liability and damages can be found below.

172 Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.pdf

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Turner - Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.pdf

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